The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team continued its recent run of win-one-lose-one on Tuesday evening, as the Chargers lost to Gallaudet, 73-70 at Horst Athletic Center. The loss drops the Chargers to 11-7 overall and 6-4 in United East Conference play, while the Bison improve to 6-13 overall and 5-5 in conference action.
 
How it Happened: Gallaudet jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, as the Bison scored on four of their first five possessions. Junior Alaysha Iwais got the Chargers onto the board 2:45 into the contest, but Lancaster Bible managed just one basket over the next three minutes and trailed, 14-4 with four minutes to play after a jumper from Gallaudet's Cassidy Perry. A late 3-pointer from junior Jenna Dombach, as well as back-to-back buckets from Sydney Heller brought the Chargers to within seven late in the quarter, and after Gallaudet basket, senior Mikayla Via cut the Gallaudet lead to 22-15, which the score remained through 10 minutes of play.
 
The second quarter started like the first, as the Bison scored the first six points of the quarter, and led, 28-15 just under three minutes into the frame. It took the Chargers nearly four minutes to score their first points of the second quarter, but points on back-to-back possessions, including a bucket from freshman Amber Millen, brought the Chargers to within nine at 28-19 with under five minutes remaining in the half. The final five minutes belonged to the Chargers, as Lancaster Bible outscored the Bison, 14-8, including a buzzer-beating layup from Heller who had eight points in the quarter, and Lancaster Bible trailed just 36-33 at the break.
 
The teams exchanged baskets to open the third quarter, as a 3-pointer from Dombach midway through the quarter brought the Chargers back to within three at 45-42. Lancaster Bible cut its deficit to one a minute later, but Gallaudet responded and led by as many as six late in the quarter, before a put-back layup by freshman Irene Were with under 20 seconds to play trimmed the deficit to 55-51, where the score stood after 30 minutes.
 
The first three minutes of the fourth quarter resembled the first half, as Gallaudet scored the first five points of the quarter over a three-minute span and led, 60-51 with 7:20 remaining. Heller drained a 3-pointer with under five minutes to play to cut the Chargers' deficit to 63-57, and teams traded baskets over the next 2:30, as Gallaudet led, 67-61. Senior Adalyn Steiner hit another 3-pointer on Lancaster Bible's next possession, but Perry hit a jumper in the lane for Gallaudet and followed it with 1-of-2 free throws the next time down the floor to restore Gallaudet's six-point edge, 70-64.
 
Lancaster Bible wouldn't go away however, and Were's layup with 17.2 seconds to play made it a 72-70 game in favor of the Bison. Gallaudet's Jewel Rocha made 1-of-2 free throws with 10.8 seconds to play, but Lancaster Bible couldn't get off a good shot to try and tie the game with under 10 seconds to play.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 39.7 percent (27-of-68) from the field, including 22.2 percent (4-of-18) from 3-point range…Lancaster Bible was also 12-of-17 from the free throw line…Gallaudet shot 59.2 percent (29-of-49) from the floor, including 50 percent (1-of-2) from beyond the arc…The Bison were 14-of-22 from the free throw line…Heller led the Chargers with a game-high 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting, while Were had 10 points and nine rebounds…Iwais added six points and nine assists, while Steiner had seven points and six boards…Perry had 17 points to pace the Bison, while Rajena Guettler posted 16 points and five assists.
 
Information to Know: Lancaster Bible is now 17-5 all-time against Gallaudet…The teams split the season series, as the Chargers defeated Gallaudet, 65-56 in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 14…Lancaster Bible is now 5-2 at home this season…Gallaudet shot a season-best 59.2 percent from the floor and has shot 50 percent or better in each of its past three games…In two games against Lancaster Bible this season, Cassidy Perry posted a combined 43 points…Heller's 24 points are her second-most in a game this season behind her 29-point effort at Cairn on Nov. 12, 2022.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible travels to Upstate New York this weekend to take on SUNY Morrisville on Friday night at 5 p.m. and Wells on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.